Friday, March 13, 2009

Milton Babbitt, with avant-go-go dancers

Video: The Bad Plus, performing Milton Babbitt's "Semi-Simple Variations," with choreography and dance performance by Julie Worden of Mark Morris Group. From the band's new album, For All I Care, which, in addition to freshly intense performances of 20th century minimalism like this, incorporates voice for the first time and discovers new depths in FM rock like Nirvana's Lithium, Yes' Runaround, and, yes, Barracuda. I saw these guys perform in Houston last month and I they are really at the top of their game.